Important Links
A Note from Mrs. Pitts
Dear RES Families,
We have had many discussions this year about biking and bike safety. I want to thank everyone who has offered feedback. Below is what we know we have in place NOW after training the children and watching everything flow for a few days. I am trying to simplify this process as much as possible but reach out if there is something you do not understand. Please be patient as we work as a community, with the Rye PD, to keep our children safe, as we focus on cars, buses and bikes all arriving at the same time. Safety is important and we all need to work as a team to make arrival and dismissal as seamless as possible.
Here are the NEW protocols for morning and afternoon bike riding:
FOR STUDENTS
1. Students must WALK their bikes across the crosswalk and down the path INSIDE the white line.
(They have been trained on this and are doing GREAT!!!!)
2. Students should ride with the traffic and follow all safety rules.
3. Students CAN arrive a few minutes before 8:05 and stand with their bikes until an adult arrives to avoid some of the incoming traffic.
FOR PARENTS
1. Parents must walk their bikes into the school with their child. Parents are encouraged to walk their bikes out of the school property to support us in modeling for the students who are entering at the same time.
2. If a parent has a question about a police officer's instructions, please contact the police department.
3. As stated in the handbook, we encourage all children in grades K-2 to be escorted by an adult.
4. Parents should drop off quickly and depart to allow for room for more students to arrive.
5. Parents should also ride in a single file within the white line.
Below is the information that is in our current handbook:
In view of the hazardous roads and heavy traffic leading to Rye Elementary, we encourage students in K-2 to ride their bikes to school with a parent escort. Due to safety concerns, bikes are not allowed from December 1st through March 1 or with principal discretion. Bike rules are outlined below:
Bikers will enter/exit the school yard using the Lang’s Field entrance
Once off the main road, students should ride their bike (THIS IS NOW WALK) single file staying on the Lang Field/Playground side of the road beginning at Sagamore Road and then dismount and walk their bike, indicated by the sign.
Park bicycles in the bicycle racks
The Town of Rye requires bicyclists to ride single file and that riders under the age of 16 wear a safety helmet on all Town of Rye roads.
When possible, a Rye Police officer will be at the cross walk during the arrival and dismissal times.
Bicycle privileges may be suspended for failure to observe the rules on school grounds.
As with any other dismissal, we ask that you send a note to the office stating your approval for your child to ride his/her bike to school. If your child plans to ride every day, you may write one note and then let us know if that plan changes.
Please speak with your child about the high volume of traffic during the arrival and dismissal times. We appreciate your cooperation with keeping the children of Rye Elementary School safe.
We all have the same goal and are working together to make this process smooth and safe. We really appreciate the flexibility in shifting this process and for the feedback we have received. There are still some steps on my To Do list in this process but we will be addressing bike, car and bus safety with the children at this week's assembly.
WE DO ASK THAT ALL CARS LEAVE THE PARKING LOT IN ONE SINGLE LINE TO THE ROAD AND THAT CHILDREN ARE SEATED AND BUCKLED IN CARS WHEN THEY DEPART.
Warmly,
Michelle Pitts
At Rye Elementary School the safety of our students is always a top priority. One way we promote safety is by having a safety plan in place for addressing various emergencies. These emergencies include, but are not limited to fires, dangerous persons, and medical emergencies.
Teachers are always discussing how to be safe in school when we practice drills and we are mandated to do ten each year. The number one rule is to listen to your teacher! We will be having lockdown drill within the next week with the Rye Police Department’s support, much like the Fire Department supports us with our fire drills.
Each teacher reviews our lockdown protocols prior to the drill using the same script. Please know we do not share the specifics of our protocols with the entire community for safety reasons.
If you have any questions, please contact me. As a school leader who is MEMA trained in Incident Command 100 and 200 and has conducted table top exercises with NERAC, I understand the importance of school safety. We have been working closely with Homeland Security for over a year to assess our plans and collaborate to run a tabletop exercise with our safety team. Although there are no guarantees that a crisis event will not happen, the RES staff and students will be as prepared as possible!
Please complete this permission form either allowing or not allowing your child to be screened. If this form is not received by 10/18, your child WILL NOT take part in the program.
RJH and SAU 50 Connection
In an effort to create a ONE STOP SHOP for families, we are now publishing the RES and RJH newsletter on Thursdays and sharing the link in one place:)
We are also linking the SAU 50 newsletter so you have RES, RJH, PTA and SAU 50 communication all in ONE PLACE!
Please find the latest edition of the SAU 50 Sensation here.
Sincerely,
Steve Zadravec
Trunk-or-Treat:
We know there has been confusion about the date/time, so take note!
Sunday, October 27th 4:30-6:00pm
- All Rye students are welcome! Parents are responsible for supervising their children.
- Volunteers are needed to make this fun for all! See sign up below.
- Raffle Baskets- donated by families, sign up below. See link for details.
- Trunks - sign up to decorate your trunk, spooky or fun! Please estimate around 300-400 treats per trunk.
- Raffle Basket tickets can be purchased ahead of the event. Tickets will be distributed to students at both schools the week before Trunk or Treat.
- Pizza will be served.
- Click on sign-ups below for more details!
- Trunk or Treat Volunteer SignUp
- Raffle basket donation SignUp
- Trunk or Treat Raffle Basket Tickets 2024
Membership Drive ends October 18th
- We hope to kick our membership enrollment into overdrive this month! Become a member today!
- Pizza Party to the winning grade at each school!
Fundraising:
Election Day Bake Sale:
-Nov. 5 at Rye Elementary School
-Your contributions are greatly appreciated!
- Baked Goods Sign up here: Baked Goods Donations
- Volunteers Sign up here:Bake Sale Volunteers
Holiday Fundraiser Idea: since the mums were a hit, we're thinking about doing a similar one with wreaths and poinsettias! Please reach out if you're interested in helping!
Contact Information
Email: mpitts@sau50.org
Website: https://res.sau50.org
Location: 461 Sagamore Road, Rye, NH, USA
Phone: (603) 436-4731
